


The Russian Butcher

by PrincessTreacle



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Kidnapping, Lemons, Light Torture, Love, NSFW, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:33:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23873209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessTreacle/pseuds/PrincessTreacle
Summary: Alexei Stanovich is in the US and has his sights set on a particular blonde. But the BAU won’t let her get hurt without a fight. They are a family after all. A four part series for moviequeen51. Lemons/Violence
Relationships: Luke Alvez/Penelope Garcia
Comments: 6
Kudos: 104





	1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer -** **All recognisable characters belong to their original owners. I do not make a profit from writing this; I simply do it for my own amusement. No copyright infringement intended.**

Part One

Penelope giggled as Luke's hands trailed up the outside of her thighs as he gently kissed her neck.

"I'm so glad you decided to come back early," he whispered against her rapidly heating skin.

"Me too," she mumbled, pulling his lips back up to hers.

They were on the floor of her apartment, a blanket underneath them. It had been an impromptu date when she text him to say she would be getting in early. Luke, being the romantic he was, had gone over to her apartment, put a bottle of wine to chill and set up a romantic little 'picnic'.

He'd gone to get her from the airport and then brought her straight back to the apartment. She'd gasped in surprise and delight before turning to him and kissing him so hard his toes curled.

They'd ended up on the floor, her astride him.

Her hands slipped under his shirt and she felt the rigid muscles that were waiting for her. She'd managed to undo all the buttons and was more than pleased as she began to slip it down his arms.

"Don't you think you're a little overdressed?" he mumbled against her lips. His hands trailed up her back to the zipper where he teasingly pulled it.

"Maybe." She kissed him hard and sloped her mouth over his. She'd been gone for the past two weeks and she had missed him immensely. Not just this - the physical side of their relationship - but the rest of it too. The playfulness that occurred between them, the loving gestures he showed her (like this one), the verbal sparring they did every day and the joy he brought her.

His hand grasped at the zipper and he slowly began to pull it down where there was a loud knock at the door.

She pulled away from his lips.

"Penelope! Open up!" JJ called. "It's girl's night!"

She and Luke exchanged a panicked glance. Neither of them had told anyone about their relationship, they were happy to keep it between them. She had spent so long pretending not to like him that she knew it would feel strange telling her friends that she was now dating him.

"Go," Luke told her. "We can do this another time. You've not seen the girls for a few weeks."

Her hands cupped his face and she placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "You really are the best, Luke Alvez."

"I know but don't tell people; it'll ruin my street cred."

Penelope's tinkling laugh made him smile as they got up off the floor.

She went to the door when she was sure that Luke was out of sight an opened it slightly.

"Hey!"

"Hi!" the girls greeted back.

"Are you alright?" Max asked. "You look a little flushed."

"Yeah. I rushed to get the door is all."

"Oh okay."

The look in Tara's eyes told her that she didn't quite believe her.

"I know we didn't plan anything but when you text saying you were back early we thought it would be nice to have a girl's night," Emily added.

"Yeah." She licked her lips. "That'd be great, just give me a few minutes to get changed and I'll be right out."

All three women gave her a strange look as she shut the door. Luke emerged from the bedroom with a strawberry in his mouth, his shirt still undone and showing off his beautiful body.

"No fair," she whined. "How can I go out with the girls when I know you're here looking like that?"

He swallowed the strawberry, chuckled and then kissed her. "You'll have a wonderful night. I'm going to go back home and get Roxy and Lou and we'll be here when you get back."

After Phil's terrible death, Lou had been put in a rescue centre. Unfortunately, she hadn't done well. She lost a lot of weight, stopped eating and playing and even began growling when the staff went near her. The second Luke had picked her up and brought her home she was a different dog. She bonded with Roxy really well and they got on better than Luke could have ever imagined. She may have had a rough start in life but she would always have a good home from now on.

"Alright." Penelope gave his hand a squeezed and headed into the bedroom to change into something else.

Luke decided it was best not to follow her - too much temptation.

When she emerged from the bedroom a few minutes Luke gave a low whistle. She was wearing a black dress with the shoulders cut out and the top section up until her breasts was similar to fishnet material. It fell to her knees and on her feet were a pair of black strappy heels.

"Well don't you look beautiful." She smiled and gave him a little twirl.

As she always did, she went into his arms.

"I'll be back in a few hours."

He nodded and placed his forehead on hers. "You have a good time and I'll see you soon. If you need me, ring me."

"I will." She pressed a quick kiss to his lips before grabbing her bag and leaving, shooting him a quick smile and wave before she opened the door.

She was greeted with cheers and Luke grinned.

* * *

Penelope laughed as some guy tried to hit on Tara. She just wasn't interested and this guy didn't seem to be getting it.

"Poor Tara," JJ laughed next to her.

"Why?" Max asked. "I think she's got everything under control."

Tara gave the man a fake grin as he walked away, a sickening smile on his face.

"What did he want?" JJ asked as she sipped her colourful drink.

"You do not want to know," Tara muttered, gratefully taking the drink that Max offered her.

"So, tell us about this new job," Emily began as she turned to Penelope, a colourful drink her hands. "You've been there for eight months, how is it?"

"I love it," Penelope told them honestly. "I get to do so much good and not have to deal with the icky stuff. The people I work with are great and it's such a wonderful environment."

"But not as good as the BAU?"

She shook her head at Tara. "Nothing could be as good as working with you guys."

She did enjoy her new work environment and what she got to do but apart of her would always miss the BAU.

Penelope took a sip of her drink and then remember something. "Oh - Max!" She put her drink down on the table. "Tell me about you and Spence. A little birdie told me that he asked you a question."

Even with the low lights in the club, she could still see the blush that covered Max's face. Penelope couldn't suppress the squeal that shot out of her throat.

"You have to tell us now!" JJ demanded.

"It wasn't anything big, he asked me to move in with him and I said yes."

"That is big for Spence!" Tara told her and Max's blush deepened.

"When are you moving in?" Penelope asked.

"The next few weeks - I'm just taking stuff over slowly at first, in case he changes his mind."

"He won't," JJ reassured her.

About three hours later and several drinks, Penelope Garcia was feeling pleasantly buzzed. She'd had a good evening and was looking forward to climbing into bed with her own New Yorker and two dogs.

They were just leaving the club and were waiting for a taxi to take them back to their respective homes.

Penelope was chatting to Max when she suddenly looked over her shoulder and focused on something behind her.

"What-" Penelope turned around and then turned back to Max. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh, nothing." She waved her hand. "There's this guy and he's been staring at us all night."

"Well, who wouldn't?" Emily slurred from beside them (she had had more than her fair share of alcohol tonight). "We're hot tottie!" She finished her statement with a slap to her ass that had the other three women like it was the funniest thing they had ever seen - then again, a drunk Emily was always a source of entertainment.

The drive back to her apartment was loud and she thanked the taxi driver before giving him her share of the money. When Emily starting singing again she swore she saw him smile and grin.

Penelope climbed the stairs to her apartment and when she opened the front door she was greeted with a shirtless Luke sat on the couch watching television whilst Roxy and Lou slept at his feet.

Her return to the apartment got the attention of both dogs and they shot to their feet, moving to greet her immediately.

"Hi my babies!" she crooned, bending down to tickle and give them both love. She scratched behind their ears as Roxy rolled over to expose her belly and Lou licked her face.

Once she'd greeted them she went over to the couch.

Luke extended a hand out to her. "Did you have a good night?" She nodded and kicked her heels off, using his hand to help keep her stable.

She straddled his lap and his hands went to her waist as hers went to his shoulders.

Penelope nodded and kissed him. When she pulled back he licked his lips.

"Fruity," he commented and she laughed.

When she kissed his neck his hands gripped the fabric of her dress.

"Are you drunk?"

"No," she whispered, tilting his neck so she had better access. "Just pleasantly buzzed."

She continued to kiss his neck, her hands trailing down his hard chest and abdomen to the wait band of his sweatpants.

Luke grinned. "Is there something I can help you with?"

She giggled against his skin. "No, I've got it."

She slipped her hand into the loose material and past his boxers, her hand finding his rapidly hardening cock.

"You really have," Luke groaned when she gripped the large appendage in her hand and began to swipe her thumb over the head of it.

Penelope's small hands worked the warm skin, spreading the droplets that appeared on the head down the rest of his cock, pushing and pulling the skin as she went.

Luke let his head fall against the couch and with closed eyes, he just felt. Her hand caused sparks to fly up and down his cock, his balls tingling when she got the base and let her fingers trail over the sensitive skin. His nipples pebbled when her hair brushed past them, lips leaving a path of wet kisses down his chest.

When she took her hand from his shoulder, he didn't think anything of it. Until he heard her moan. He cracked open an eye to her right hand moving beneath his sweatpants and her left hand between her own legs.

"Nu-uh," he told her, pulling her fingers away. "That's my job." Staring straight into her sweet green eyes, he sucked her fingers into her mouth, cleaning up the sweet juice that she had already gathered.

Her eyes darkened and she moaned.

He smiled and placed his fingers beneath her dress, sliding them up her leg and into her already wet underwear.

His fingers found her folds and slid between them easily, finding her slit wet and ready for him.

Luke slid one finger in, gentle and slow. Above him, Penelope let out a little sigh. He smiled.

She rocked against him, moving his finger inside her as she continued to stimulate his hard cock.

Her ministrations had become less furious and Luke found himself able to think clearly and watch as she took her pleasure from him.

When she began to thrust her hips harder and her mouth fell open, Luke withdrew his digit.

Her eyes flew open and she looked at him accusingly.

"Stand up, chica."

On shaky legs, she did as he asked and when he shucked his sweatpants and boxers down his muscular legs, she got what he wanted.

Very quickly she pulled her dress over her head and discarded her bra and underwear somewhere on the floor.

Luke's left hand stroked his cock as his other reached out to her, inviting her back into his lap.

She eagerly took it as he helped her straddle him.

He released his cock and it bounced between them, the warm head leaving a trail of moisture on her stomach. He pulled her close and kissed her hard, throwing his passion and lust into the kiss.

She moaned and wrapped her hands around his neck.

Luke reached between them and guided his cock into her warm, wet heat; pleasure surging through them both.

He breathed in the scent that was just so her and slowly used his hands on her hips to rock her.

Penelope closed her eyes and let her forehead rest against his, delightful pleasure coursing through her veins.

The only sounds in the apartment were their breathy moans and the sound of their skin slipping against each other.

When he opened his eyes and saw her sucking her lip into her mouth he knew she was close.

Luke bent his head and kissed the side of her neck, working his way to her heaving breasts. He licked a path to her nipple before taking the peak in his mouth and swirling his tongue around the puckered skin.

Penelope sighed and then moaned deep in her throat. Her movements became jerky and her thighs began to quiver against his.

Holding her hips still, Luke thrust deeply into her causing her to moan and cry as her orgasm rushed over her, a tidal wave of pleasure overtaking all her sense until she didn't know where she was or what was going on around her.

Her orgasm drew Luke's out, her wet heat grasping and sucking at his cock caused him to release inside her, balls slapping against her for a final time as he let his body go lax on the couch.

Penelope slouched against him, her forehead against his again.

"I love you," she whispered.

Every time he heard those words his heart sung. It may have only been eight months but they had grown close quickly. He told her he loved her after five months and now those three little words were exchanged more often than they were not.

"I love you too," he told her.

They stayed together for a few minutes before standing and going into the bathroom where the cleaned up. Once they were done with that, they headed into the bedroom and slid under the covers.

Roxy and Lou joined them, both of them curling up at the end of the bed.

"Good night, Luke."

"Good night, Penelope."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead and pulled her close.

Life was good - so good.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer -** **All recognisable characters belong to their original owners. I do not make a profit from writing this; I simply do it for my own amusement. No copyright infringement intended.**

Part Two

Penelope buried her face into the pillow as she felt Luke's lips on her cheek.

"I'm going to work, chica," Luke whispered into her ear and she nodded sleepily.

"Alright, love you," she murmured. He chuckled, gave her a final kiss, told the dogs goodbye and then left the apartment.

Penelope closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

She awoke a few hours later feeling hungry and well-rested.

When her feet hit the floor, Lou came over and rested her head against her legs. "Morning Lou-Lou," she greeted. She tickled her until Roxy came over and demanded one too.

After giving both the dogs their morning cuddles she went into the kitchen to make herself a vegetarian omelette.

When she was cooking it, both dogs kept glancing at the cupboard - Penelope knew what they wanted.

"Fine!" She couldn't take their little faces anymore and she grabbed two dental treats from out the cupboard. Chances were Luke had already given them one each when they woke up but she was a sucker for a pretty face.

Both dogs tails began to pound loudly on the floor and when she presented them to them, they sat and offered their paws like the good little angels they were.

Penelope ate her breakfast and sat down at her laptop, ready to start working on a paper she was presenting at a conference in a few weeks.

She opened the document and scrunched her face up. This wasn't the most recent file; that was on her office desktop.

Turning to the dogs she asked, "Anyone fancy a trip?"

Half an hour later she pulled up outside her office and let both dogs jump out the car. Her work was very animal friendly - they were an eco company, if they weren't it would be odd - and Penelope had brought the dogs in before. Everyone loved them and the dogs were thrilled with the attention they got, especially Lou.

As she walked into the building she was greeted by several people and she smiled. It was a lovely place to work.

She had her own office here, much like at the FBI, but this office was vastly different. It was a corner office that overlooked one of the parks which meant to always had a beautiful view to look at. It was light and airy with full-length windows that spanned the length of the wall. Her desk was a corner desk (she loved them) and was filled with all her possession that she kept at the FBI, except for a few new pictures - one of her and Luke and one of Roxy and Lou. Instead of spending her days looking at things that made her heart race and her eyes water she got to see the good in people and the world, helping to drive the global economy towards a greener way of living. This was the perfect job for her.

She sat down at her desk and both dogs laid on the floor near her feet.

As her computer booted up, there was a knock at the door and she saw her work colleague, Xavier, waiting.

"Come in, X. What's up?"

Both dogs went over to him and he bent down to give them rubs. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "Not that I don't want to see you but I thought you got back from your trip yesterday?"

"I did but I left the files I need for that conference paper on here." It was a rookie mistake.

"Ah - are you all ready for it?"

"I'm a bit nervous," she admitted. This wasn't her first conference but it would be the one with the biggest audience. Billionaires, businessmen, law enforcement, students - you name it, they were all tuning in to hear her talk about how to make small changes when it came to going green.

"You don't need to be," he reassured her. "Your work is excellent."

"Thanks, X." Xavier had been working here much longer than she had and when she first came they bonded over their love of cats and all things spicy. He was a single dad just trying to make the world a better place for his daughter.

"Would you mind looking over my paper for the conference?" he asked.

"Of course, just email it to me and I'll have a read through."

"Cheers." He stood up and began to leave before quickly turning on his heel. "Quick heads up, the conference is at 12 but Miranda wants us in at 9 for a briefing session."

"9?" she grimaced.

"She wants us to be 'prepared'."

"But there's only three of us presenting, surely it won't take three hours?"

Xavier shrugged his shoulders. "You know Miranda."

"I do." She shook her head. "Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem. I'll get my paper sent to you ASAP."

She smiled as he left and returned her attention to her computer.

When she had managed to pull the files from her computer she gathered the dogs and left.

The drive to her apartment was quiet, both dogs just staring out the window as the world whipped by around them.

Returning to her apartment, the dogs ran ahead of her, Lou jumping back from Roxy as they played up the stairs.

"Careful!" she called not wanting either of them to get hurt. She shook her head. She loved seeing them play together, it was quite soothing for the soul.

When she approached her door, her demeanour changed. There was a piece of paper at eye level in the middle of it, a bloodied knife keeping it in place.

The handwriting was scrawly and barely legible as if it had been done in a hurry. She swallowed and read the message.

_I told you your place was serving men. You will always be less than them. But you didn_ _'t listen and now I will have to show you what happens. You're a worthless, stupid girl. Not worth any time._

She felt her mouth turn dry as her throat constricted and she suddenly felt incredibly sick. She placed her hands on her knees and took a few calming breaths.

Roxy nudged the back of her leg and she reached out with a shaking hand to touch her head.

"I'm fine," she whispered, mainly to herself.

Being out in the open made her feel paranoid and unsafe so she unlocked the door as quickly as she could and got two clear plastic bags from out the kitchen. Roxy and Lou stuck to her like glue.

She used a tissue to pull the knife from the door and put it in one of the bags before she did the same to the note. She locked the door and quickly walked down the steps to her car, loading the dogs into it once more.

When she looked in the rearview mirror she noticed how pale she looked. Tears were threatening to leak of her eyes but she couldn't cry, not yet.

She sucked in a breath, held it for five seconds and then let it out in a controlled motion.

Penelope couldn't tell if it helped so she pretended it did.

She placed Esther into drive and started on the familiar route.

* * *

Luke sat at his desk and listened as Reid told him about a new journal article he was having published.

"That's great!" Luke told him as Elizabeth came out of her office (Penelope's old office) with several files stacked up in her arms.

"We've got a case," she told Reid, JJ, Tara and he.

All three stood up and headed into the meeting room where they were shortly joined by Matt, Rossi and Emily.

"Morning everyone," Emily greeted. "We've got a bit of a different case this morning."

As they sat down, Elizabeth passed out the files.

When Luke opened it, he realised why.

"An old contact from INTERPOL got in touch and asked if we would look into this case. When I saw the severity of it, I couldn't turn it down."

"All across Europe, women have been going missing and then turning up days later dead," Elizabeth said. She pressed a button on the remote and a map of Europe appeared on the screen, red dots denoting where women had been found. "They all had their reproductive organs cut out, their nipples cut off, showed signs of strangulation," she paused as several images popped up on the screen, "and were found with a note attached to their bodies via a knife." The image that popped up was gruesome. It showed a women's skull with a knife sticking out and a note being held in place by the sharp blade."

Luke grimaced.

"All victims showed signs of torture and restraint and they all matched a specific profile. They all had blonde hair, green eyes and were curvy girls."

"That shows our unsub has a type, a very distinct type," Reid remarked and Luke could tell he was intrigued by this case.

"That he does," Elizabeth agreed before eleven pictures of women appeared on the screen. "All of his victims were working women with a career," she glanced down at her notes. "One was a policewoman, one was a lawyer, one was a teacher, one was an accountant… you get the picture."

"These women aren't stupid then, do we know how he found them?" JJ asked.

"Well, all of the reports say that these women never came home from work and their cars were all found abandoned on the side of the road."

"He must have a ruse to get close to them," Rossi surmised.

"Why are we being asked to consult on a case in Europe?" Matt asked. Luke saw Elizabeth and Emily share a look.

"The cases are no longer confined to Europe," Elizabeth told them, pressing another button on the remote to show a map of the US. "As of ten o'clock last night, four murders in the states have been linked to this same person. Same MO, same victimology - everything." Four dots appeared on the map showing where the bodies had been found followed by four more pictures of the victims.

Silence enveloped the table. This was big.

"Which brings me to my next point, this isn't a typical case - we know the offender. He's been positively ID'd and linked to all of the murders through DNA found on the knife. INTERPOL want our help to catch him because he keeps alluding them. They think that we're the best people for the job."

"The fact that he left DNA at the crime scene shows either he's not forensically aware or he doesn't care," Reid chimed.

"INTERPOL thinks it's the latter. That's why they want him caught - they believe that he's planning something big which could mean a lot of people getting hurt," Emily said.

Tara, who had been looking through the case file, spoke up. "What's interesting is that all these wounds were inflicted antemortem like he wanted the women to suffer. And the removal of the nipples and reproductive organs could be him trying to take away their femininity."

Rossi nodded. "Do we know when he put the knife in their brains?"

Elizabeth's mouth pulled up in a wince. "It's hard to say, the women would have lost a lot of blood when he was cutting their…" she gestured to her lower stomach, "…out but the autopsy reports suggest that he put it in when most of them were dead."

"He's a sadist," Luke said. "A woman has obviously upset him in the past and now he's taking it out on any of the women that remind him of her."

"So who is this guy?" Rossi asked.

"If you would turn to page fifteen of your case booklet, you'll find his name, picture and background information."

Luke turned to the page.

He was reminded once again that looks can be deceiving. The guy didn't look harmful. He was older, maybe in his forties, he had blonde shoulder-length hair, a short beard and a face that had several scars across it. His eyes were brown but there was something in them. Even through the picture, Luke could feel the evil there.

His eyes scanned the page and when he read the name his heart stopped in his chest.

"He's known as 'The Russian Butcher' AKA Alexei Stanovich. He is thirty-three years old and was born in Russia…" Elizabeth's words faded away and it was if Luke's entire world was falling around him.

Penelope hadn't heard from him for months and now he was here in the US after committing these crimes? There was only one reason why he was here.

JJ's hand on his arm brought him back into the room. "Luke… are you alright?"

He had no doubt the colour had drained from his face. He needed to get to Penelope and he needed to get to her now. His mind was racing.

He looked up, not sure what to say when his phone rang vibrated against his leg.

"Sorry," he mumbled, pulling it out and seeing who was calling. Normally, he would wait until after the meeting but right now his mind was a mess.

When he saw Penelope's face light up the screen he accepted the call and stood hastily from the table.

"Where are you?" he asked, not wanting to waste a second.

"I'm in the parking lot," her voice was quiet and shaky and he knew… he just knew.

"Don't move," he commanded. "I'm coming."

The rest of the team looked at him like he had grown another head.

"Give me five minutes and then I'll explain everything," he told Emily before running out of the room and towards the exit.

He bypassed the elevator and ran down the stairs, taking two at a time. His heart was pounding and his hands shaking.

He burst through the front doors and ran into the parking lot where he saw stood against her Esther, Roxy and Lou sat at her side.

He ran straight to her and with such force than she was pushed back against the car.

Luke wrapped his arms around her and pressed her face into his chest.

"I've got you," he cooed. Her body began to shake and he just held and rocked her.

Penelope pushed away from him, tear tracks staining her face. "Alexei Stanovich, he came to the apartment, he left a note." She gestured inside the car and Luke followed her hand until he saw the two plastic bags on the front seat.

"Are you hurt?"

She shook her head. "He did it when I went out to the office." She swiped at her tears.

He placed his large hands on her face. "It's going to be alright." His eyes stared into hers. "I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer -** **All recognisable characters belong to their original owners. I do not make a profit from writing this; I simply do it for my own amusement. No copyright infringement intended.**

Part Three

JJ handed Penelope a cup of steaming tea and sat down next to her.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Penelope played with the handle, running her hands over the ceramic. "I told Luke but he was in Russia - ungettable." She ran her finger over the lip of the cup. "The messages he sent me aren't the worse I've ever had." She shrugged her shoulders. "He stopped contacting me about six months ago… I thought he'd found someone else to harass."

Luke, who was sat next to her, shared a look with Emily who was leaned against the wall. She didn't have to be a profiler to know what they were thinking. The messages stopped because the murders started.

"It's probably just an empty threat." She was aware of how weak her voice sounded and when Luke guffawed next to her, she shot him a look.

"He's killed people, chica. This isn't an empty threat."

Silence enveloped the room.

"The brass wants you in witness protection but I told them you were safer with us." Penelope nodded. Her mind went back the 'Dirty Dozen'; she'd got through that and she'd get through this. "You will have agents assigned to you twenty-four-seven for the foreseeable future and Luke," she turned to him, "if you want to go on leave that's completely understandable."

Luke nodded and Penelope shook her head. "No way."

"Chica - I want to protect you."

"You're a good profiler, Luke. This isn't going to be the only case that the team need you for."

"But you need me." She placed a hand on his face. Their relationship had been exposed only thirty minutes early and she thought that such a show of affection would make her feel nervous… but it helped calm her and felt natural.

"It's up to you, Luke - but Penelope will have protection." Emily sighed. "If you'll excuse me, I want to make a call."

Emily left the room and headed into her office, Rossi catching her eye as he, Tara and Matt began making calls and calling in all the favours they were owed.

She shut the door and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She scrolled through her contacts until a familiar name popped up. She pressed the call button and waited.

"Hello, you, long time no talk."

"I know, it's been busy around here. You?"

"Life's always busy at the minute." He said nothing for a second and then, "why do I get the feeling that this isn't a social call?"

"How do you feel about coming back for a case?"

"Depends on the case."

"Penelope's in trouble."

"Say no more, give me an hour and I'll be there."

"Thanks, Morgan."

* * *

Penelope woke up in the beige room alone. She reached over to the other side of the bed and stroked the sheets.

Luke had gone into work early again. They had a lead on Alexei and he wanted to be there for it. She knew she wasn't actually alone though. She was never alone these days. There would be an agent in the living room.

She got out of bed and pushed her feet inside her pink unicorn slippers.

When she entered the living room, she was greeted with "Morning, baby girl."

"Are you on babysitting duty this morning, Chocolate Thunder?" Penelope went over to her best friend and was enveloped in his strong arms.

"Don't be bitter," he told her. When Penelope had found out that Emily had called Morgan to come on the case she had been upset. Her friend had more pressing things to be concerned with than her - like his wife and child. But Morgan had shown up within the hour and told her under no uncertain terms was he going anywhere until they caught this 'sick son of a bitch'.

She knew how serious this was. Another body had been discovered a week ago and when she'd found out she had felt sick. She was scared for her life but also the poor women who he had terrorised. They'd done nothing wrong. She couldn't help but feel as if this were all her fault.

"Let me make you some breakfast," Morgan whispered into her hair and she nodded.

As she ate, Morgan sipped at his coffee and pet Lou (she had taken quite a liking to him). "Are you sure that going into work today is the best?"

"I have this conference-"

He cut her off. "I know, I know. But with everything going on?"

"I've been prepping this for weeks. I'm going to present my paper."

She thought her and Luke would argue over this; that he'd say she was being silly or something. But he didn't. He got it. He understood just how important this was to her. Reid was going to be with her anyway. He was pretty excited.

"You'll be amazing," he told her and she smiled.

Two hours later and she and Reid were sat in her office. Miranda and X were going to come by in a few minutes for the briefing session.

Reid sipped at a bottle of water at her desk. "What's interesting about the going 'green phenomena' is that research shows a trend with the younger generations but not the older generations. It shows how different generations place value of importance on different things."

Penelope smiled as she listened to him, it was nice to hear someone talk about something other than her and the case.

"Furthermore…" Reid's voice began to go quieter and his words slurred.

She looked up from her computer and watched his head loll forward before he jerked it back, pupils large and his mouth partially open.

"Reid?" She stood from her desk and went over to the chair he was sitting in. "Boy Wonder?"

"I don't… I don't feel…" Reid's eyes closed and his head lolled completely back, his body slack.

"Reid! Spencer!" Penelope placed both her hands on his face and tried to wake him up. She shook him gently and placed two fingers on the pulse point on his neck. It was steady and strong.

She heard the door open behind her. "X…"

She trailed off when she saw who was stood in her doorway. She recognised him immediately and her blood ran cold.

"That was meant for you but this has actually worked out quite well."

She swallowed her fear. "What have you done to him?"

"Drugs - I believe you call them, roofies?" His face showed a sickening smile.

"What do you want?" Her voice shook more than she would have liked.

"You." He stepped further into the office. "You're going to come with me."

"And if I say no?"

He chuckled. "You can say no but that means I'll have to hurt someone else. Maybe him?" He pointed to Reid. "Or maybe that little blonde slip of a thing at the reception desk." He pulled a pocket knife out of his pocket and spun the blade, the edge glistening under the office lights.

"Alright." She got to her feet slowly and when she walked towards him, he held up his hand.

"No." He shook his head. "Take your phone out of your pocket and put it on the desk."

She did as he asked.

"Now grab your car keys." Once again, she did as he asked. "Come here." His voice was cold and calculating and it sent shivers down her spine.

Penelope walked up to him and he grabbed her by the waist and hauled her closer.

She suppressed a whimper.

He placed his nose right by her ear and breathed deeply.

"You smell like a woman," he hissed. "Before we leave, there's one more thing." He brushed a piece of hair away from her face. "Say my name. I've always wondered what it would sound like coming from your beautiful lips."

Her whole body shook and bile bubbled up from her stomach.

"Say it!" He spat.

"Alexei Stanovich." The name came out like a sob. His laughter filled the office.

"It sounds better than I thought it would!"

He roughly grabbed her arm and begin to lead her from the office. He led her into the elevator and pressed the knife against her back.

"If you try anything funny when we get downstairs, I'll hurt the next person I see." He knew that threatening her life wasn't enough.

She nodded and tried to think of something, anything that might help the situation.

When the elevator doors dinged open she stepped out with Alexei behind her.

"Penelope - where are you going?" Ella asked, looking at her with a concerned face.

"Um…"

"You have the briefing meeting now." Her face showed her confusion.

"Yeah… I forgot something in my car."

Ella's eyes went to Alexei.

"This is my… friend." The word left a sour taste in her mouth. "He's… helping me with something."

"Oh… should I let Miranda know you'll be late?"

Alexei pressed the knife into Penelope's back and she lurched forward.

"No!" Ella looked shocked at her outburst. "I'm not going to be gone long so you don't need to say anything - just give me five minutes?"

"Alright."

Her eyes were uneasy and Penelope had the feeling her own reflected a similar emotion.

Alexei pushed against her back and she moved towards the door, praying nobody else would stop them.

Her prayers were heard because they got to her car without incident.

"What now?" she asked.

"You're going to drive us somewhere."

"Where?"

"You'll see." Her heart pounded harder against her chest because she knew this was it. Wherever she drove them to would be that place he would kill her.

* * *

"He's getting closer," Luke said as he ran a hand over his face in frustration.

"We'll catch him," Rossi promised. "We always do."

Another body had been found in the early hours of the morning in West Virginia; a curvy woman with blonde hair and green eyes. She was mid-thirties, worked as a vet and had been found in the grounds of the college. Her reproductive organs had been cut out, her nipples cut off and a note attached to her head via a knife. The note barely made any sense, it was a mix of Russian and English, both broken with one recurring word throughout, Penelope. The handwriting was barely legible and he'd done a crude job of cutting out her reproductive organs. He was devolving.

"Morning," Morgan greeted as he entered, a tray of coffees in his hand. "Thought you could all do with a coffee."

Luke gratefully took one and smiled at Morgan. Morgan clapped him on the shoulder.

"Have we got anything new?"

Rossi shook his head. "Not at the minute. DNA confirms it was Alexei and now we just need to try and find him."

"The guy's a genius though - he hacks for fun. He could cover his trail so easily," JJ said.

Tara was flicking through the case report. "I think if we try and find out more about his background that could help us. I mean why women? I don't think it started with Penelope, I think she's just become a fixation."

Elizabeth, who had come into the room a few minutes ago pulled out her laptop. "I might be able to help with that." She began to type. "From his records, we know that he was raised in a loving home with his mother and father - no obvious issues there; except that I managed to find a paper he published on gender. Now, this is where things get a bit icky. For some reason, 'The Russian Butcher' has this idea that women have two places, in the kitchen or, and I stress to add his words not mine, 'on their knees serving men'."

Tara scoffed.

"He has never managed to have a successful relationship and he's been kicked off several forums for promoting the idea that gender equality isn't a thing."

JJ shook her head. "God knows what he'd make of my house, Will looks after the boys and I work."

"He's a loner and he doesn't have much of a paper trail. He pays his bills on time, rents a small apartment and has stayed under the radar on all those fronts. It's with the gender thing that flags are raised." She pressed some more buttons and then plugged a lead into her computer. "He doesn't just blame women though. In this paper, there is a section about how men are to blame for women thinking they deserve equality."

"So why does he kill just women if he thinks men are to blame too?" Matt asked. It was an anomaly in the profile.

"Elizabeth, look into the cases and see if we can find any connection to men in their lives, father, boyfriends, brothers etc. Maybe if we find that out we can work out Stanovich's next moves."

Elizabeth nodded and began to furiously type.

Luke felt hopeless. It was like they were chasing their tails. This guy was ahead of them most of the time and because he was such a good hacker he never left a trail. Luke didn't like this one bit.

"Have we thought any more about where the women were found?" Rossi asked.

"Reid was looking into geoprofiling, he wanted to see if maybe there was a pattern or something," JJ said. "I'll give him a call." She pulled her phone out her pocket and rang Reid.

Luke's leg began to bounce under the table, anxiety filling him the longer Reid didn't answer.

"No answer." JJ looked down at her phone and no one moved.

And then everyone moved at once, Luke was up and out the door, Matt and Morgan hot on his heels.

Prentiss began to give out orders but Luke couldn't hear them. He had to get Penelope.

He shot down the stairs and ran to the SUV. Morgan and Matt barely got inside before they were hurtling towards her work.

* * *

As Penelope drove down the familiar streets with her heart in her throat she realised where Alexei was taking her.

"Luke's apartment? You're going to take me to Luke's apartment?"

Alexei was twisting the knife in his hands again.

"He's to blame. He allows you to run all over the states, he allows you to work. He doesn't keep you in your place!" Alexei's hand slammed against the dashboard of the car and made her jump. "He doesn't give you the firm hand you need. Women! They want it all and they don't realise they can't have it!" His voice was raised and he was going red in the face. "But the men let them! They let them run around and be whores and sluts and they don't do anything to stop it!"

Alexei ranted, getting louder and louder until his voice was like a fist pounding against her skull.

He may have been ranting but he was distracted and Penelope decided to use that to her advantage.

She slowly pressed her foot down on the accelerator. The car began to move faster and faster until she was well aware she was breaking the speed limit.

She barrelled down the road and clenched her hands around the wheel until her knuckles turned white. It was now or never.

"What are you doing?" Alexei asked and Penelope slammed her foot down, sending the car lurching forward and into the large truck in front of them.

Screeches and the sound of metal bending and twisting ricocheted through her ears as her head bounced off the side of the car and splitting pain radiated down the left side of her skull.

Smoke filled the car and she pushed on the door, her eyes seeing two of everything before she fell to the ground, couching and wincing at the sunlight that hit her eyes, her glasses lay broken on the floor.

She could hear people talking, exclaiming. The truck driver got out and began to shout at her but she couldn't talk. Her mouth didn't want to work and she couldn't find the words.

She tried to crawl but her limbs didn't work; they were heavy.

A figure stood over her and when she looked up she could see Alexei, anger in his eyes. "You stupid bitch!"

The driver of the truck came over and Penelope wanted to warn him. It didn't matter though, when he was close enough, Alexei turned and stabbed the man twice in the abdomen.

Penelope gasped and began to slide back on the floor on her bottom, the rough road scratching at her skin.

"Come on," he hissed. He took her arm in his and tried to drag her along but her body just wouldn't work.

He swore in Russian.

There was a car parked at the side of the road. It was red and Penelope looked at it, thinking it was so shiny.

Alexei went over to the driver's door and pulled the occupant out, showing the elderly man the knife.

The poor man was tossed to the floor as Penelope was thrown into the backseat, landing face down.

He began to drive and the contents of Penelope's stomach threatened to make an appearance. Her head was still hurting and when she lifted her head from the seat she noticed it was marred with blood. Her shaky fingers wound their way into her hair and found the source of the warm wet substance.

She felt so tired and weak that she closed her eyes, just for a second.

The next thing she knew she was in Luke's apartment, tied to a chair, tape biting into her wrists and ankles.

Her eyes seemed to move in different directions and she struggled to focus on Alexei. He was pacing the room, muttering to himself.

She just wanted to sleep.

Penelope lifted her head and pain shot down her neck. "Ah!" she cried, garnering his attention.

"Looks like The Black Queen is awake." She cringed at his use of her old name. "I've been looking forward to this."

He stepped closer to her and she saw the knife again.

With a quick slash, he had split open the flesh on the tops of her thighs, an angry red mark oozing blood.

He breathed deeply and chuckled. "I love it when I see the first drop, there's just something about it."

The wound stung and tears formed in her eyes.

"I gagged the others when I hurt them… but not you. I want to hear you." He grabbed her blonde hair in his fingers and jerked her head back, more pain surging through her neck.

He dragged the tip of the blade across her neck, light enough not to hurt her. It was a threat - a promise of what was to come.

In her fuzzy mind, Penelope realised that something wasn't right. Something was missing.

Alexei gave her a sickening smile and then gritted his teeth.

He raised the knife high in the air and then he disappeared from her sight as a blur of brown and gold flashed in front of her.

Loud growls erupted as shouts filled the air and snarls turned into full-on barks.

_Roxy and Lou_ … there were here. They were protecting her. But Alexei had the knife.

Her thoughts were muddled and hazy and so many things happened in the next thirty seconds.

Roxy jumped back with a high pitched squeal and Penelope saw red on the light carpet.

The door to the apartment was burst open to reveal Matt, Morgan and Luke - all three were wearing their bulletproof vests and pointing guns.

Loud voices filled the apartment as Roxy and Lou both jumped on Alexei for a second time.

The images in front of her turned blurrier than before and everyone moved in slow motion. She wanted to watch and made sure no one got hurt, however, her brain had other ideas. Her eyes began to close and a peace settled over her mind.

She was so tired and the darkness felt nice.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer -** **All recognisable characters belong to their original owners. I do not make a profit from writing this; I simply do it for my own amusement. No copyright infringement intended.**

Part Four

Luke sat in the chair at the hospital and stroked Penelope's hand. It had been four days. Four days since the worst day of his life.

Penelope was alive, she was alive and she was going to be fine. The doctors were sure.

Her main injuries had been from the car crash. That's why she had passed out, she had sustained a head injury and there was swelling on her brain. Thankfully that swelling was going down and they expected her to wake up any day now. She shouldn't have any lasting side effects.

Roxy and Lou were alright too. Roxy had been cut across her chest by Stanovich but it wasn't deep. Morgan had taken her to vets for him and the vet had reassured him that she would be just fine. She had an antibiotic injection as a precaution and Luke was told to try and keep her as calm as possible to allow the wound to heal.

Luke's house was technically a crime scene so Morgan had stepped up and taken both dogs back to his house. Both girls loved Hank, Clooney and Savannah and Luke could certainly see some doggy play dates in the future.

It felt strange to be thinking about the future when only a few days ago he felt like his whole world had been taken away from him.

_Luke didn_ _'t even park the car properly before he had jumped out and was running towards Penelope's office. He ran through the front door, intent on getting to her when Ella called out to him._

" _Luke!"_

" _I have to get to Penelope!"_

" _She's not here." Those words stopped him dead in his tracks._

" _What do you mean?" His heart was pounding._

" _She left with a guy - said that she would be back in five minutes but that was," she looked down at her watch "ten minutes ago."_

_Matt came up behind him and showed Ella his phone, a picture of Stanovich clear on the screen._ _"Was this the guy?"_

" _Yeah."_

" _Do you know where they went?" Luke asked frantically._

" _No - it's bad isn't it?" Ella knew that Luke worked for the FBI and she was one of the few people to know that Luke and Penelope were dating. She'd seen him come into her office enough times._

" _Yeah." Luke turned and went back to the elevator. They needed to make sure Reid was alright._

_Morgan and Matt joined him and Matt handed him his bulletproof vest. Luke smiled gratefully and put it on. He placed his hand on his gun as the elevator doors opened, just as a precaution._

_Inside Penelope_ _'s office, there was no sign of her or Stanovich_ _but Reid was slumped over in the chair._

" _Reid…Reid," Morgan said, pulling his face upwards and lightly rocking it from side to side. He opened his eyelids and then gently let his head fall back. "He's out of it." Morgan grabbed his phone and called JJ. "We've got Reid but no sign of Garcia or Stanovich." His eyes slid over to Reid once more. "Reid will need an ambulance though - he's heavily drugged."_

_It didn_ _'t take long for the ambulance to get to the office with Rossi and JJ following it._

_Luke watched as Reid was loaded into the ambulance and then turned to head back to the car._

" _Luke!" Morgan called, jogging to catch up with him. "Just take a second, man."_

" _We don't have a second, Morgan! He could be doing anything to her right now-" He had to stop. He couldn't bring himself to say the words._

" _And we need to figure out where he would take her."_

_Matt approached the two men with his phone out and Elizabeth and Emily on the other end._

" _Okay, we think we might have established a link between the women and where they were found." Emily started._

" _Yeah - all the locations look random until you dig a little deeper. So the woman who was found yesterday was found on the college campus right, which seems random but she was actually found underneath a statute of one of the men who set up a scholarship fund for women to attend. He pledged most of his fortune to the college and because of interest it grows every year. Well, this fund enabled some of the poorest women to get a good education. He's quoted as saying that he wanted women to be given a choice and no longer feel like they could only be mothers."_

" _Very progressive," Morgan mumbled._

" _Exactly! And when I looked into the other murders, their locations weren't random either. The women were found in locations related to the men in their lives somehow. One woman was found in her father's garden, another was found in her brother's car, another was found in her boss' garage."_

" _Okay, so what are you thinking?"_

" _We're thinking that he kills the women in these places as a punishment to the men in their lives."_

_Luke heard a door open and then Tara huff as she sat down._

" _Hey, I think I've found something. We know Alexei Stanovich was raised by a loving mother and father and I think this is part of the reason he hates women. His mom worked his entire life except for the first two years but then she went back to work. His father worked too so maybe Stanovich felt like he wasn't getting the attention he deserved."_

_The pieces began to fall into place._

" _He wanted attention from his mother and she was too busy working to give it to him. And he blames his father for that as he allowed her to work," Rossi concluded._

" _Not all of these women had fathers and so he turned to the other male influences in their lives, brothers, boyfriends, bosses - those who he believed to be responsible for them," Emily added._

" _Which means he'll take her somewhere relating to me," Luke finished._

" _Think where you took her on your first date or another occasion that was a milestone in your relationship," Morgan implored._

_Luke thought back to their dates and lunches and dinners but there wasn_ _'t one that stood out from all the others. They had all be unique and special in their own way._

" _Uh-oh," Elizabeth said. "I'm getting reports of a car crash not far from where you are…and Penelope's car was one of the vehicles involved." Silence. "The report says that a small blue VW bug crashed into the back of a stationary truck causing damage to the car. Two people got out of the bug and one of them was brandishing a knife…" her voice trailed off as she read through the report, "and that person stabbed the truck driver." Everyone heard her intake of breath. "The man then pulled an elderly gentleman out of his car and pushed the women into the backseat before driving off."_

" _What road did the crash happen on?"_

" _Um, Cedar Drive."_

" _I know where they're going," Luke said. "My apartment. He's going to kill her in my apartment."_

_The drive was a blur and when he drove past Esther he prayed that Penelope was alright. The car was beat up and he knew it would be a write-off._

_Pulling into the parking lot of his apartment complex, he, Matt and Morgan decided to go straight into the apartment whilst JJ and Rossi would wait out the front in case he made a break for it._

_The three men ascended the stairs carefully, Luke_ _'s heart in his throat the entire time. He prayed they weren't too late. He prayed that Stanovich hadn't hurt her and he prayed that Penelope was going to be alright. And then he remembered that there were two other occupants in his apartment, Roxy and Lou. God, he hoped they stayed out of the way._

_When they reached the apartment door, Luke turned to Matt and Morgan to issue instructions when a loud snarl took them all off guard._

_Luke and Morgan shared a panicked look before Morgan nodded. It was now or never._

_Luke lifted his leg and slammed his foot hard against the door, the wood cracking under the weight of it as it swung open._

_So much was going on._

_Roxy and Lou had Stanovich. Each dog had a wrist in their mouths and were swinging around, trying to pull him to the ground._

_Penelope was in the chair, tape on her wrists and ankles. Her green eyes focused on him for just a second before they closed and her head lolled forward. There was blood marring her blonde hair and pale skin, the red a sharp contrast as it ran down her temple and neck. Blood was smeared across her legs and he watched it drip down onto the carpet._

_He raised his gun at Stanovich just as Roxy jumped back with a squeal, blood matting her coat._

" _FBI put the knife down!" His voice was hard and strong, a complete contrast to what he was feeling inside. His heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his throat and his palms were sweating so much he wondered how his gun hadn't slipped out of his hands yet._

_Roxy and Lou barely acknowledged that he had entered the room, their eyes fixed on Stanovich._

" _Roxy, Lou - down," Luke commanded. Both dogs dropped to the floor, growls still coming from their throats. They weren't happy._

" _Put the knife down!" Morgan shouted._

_Stanovich_ _'s eyes flicked between the three agents. The longer he looked the more uneasy Luke felt._

_When Stanovich_ _'s eyes flicked to Penelope, Lou growled._

_The growl didn_ _'t deter him though and he leapt across the room. It was a stupid idea, it was if he thought that he was faster than a bullet._

_It wasn_ _'t Luke who pulled the trigger. It wasn't Matt who pulled the trigger. It was Morgan._

_One shot was all it took and Stanovich was down, on the ground groaning as blood pooled around his shoulder, the knife forgotten on the floor._

_As Morgan moved over to him, Luke ran to Penelope. He knelt at her feet and gently took her face in his hands._

" _Penelope! Penelope!"_

"Luke?"

He was brought out of his memory by his name. It was croaky and barely audible but he still heard it. He raised his eyes and saw Penelope looking at him from her bed.

"Chica." He grasped her hand tightly. "Let me call the nurse." He stood and pressed the button on the wall.

"Roxy?" He smiled because the first thing she was asking about wasn't herself, it wasn't Stanovich, it was the dog.

"She's fine - she's doing much better than you."

Penelope gave a weak giggle and then winced.

A nurse entered the room and her eyes lit up when she saw Penelope was awake.

"Well, hello Miss Garcia. How are you feeling?"

"Not great," Penelope groaned. "My head is killing me."

"You sustained some quite serious injuries in the car accident."

"Oh…" She turned to look at Luke. "Esther?"

He shook his head and she pouted. "My poor baby."

"Miss Garcia, is it alright if I do some tests on you? I know you're not feeling great but we need to make sure that everything is healing."

"Penelope, call me Penelope," she told the nurse.

Luke scooted his chair back but kept his hand on hers. He watched as the nurse checked her vitals, checked her pupils and reactions and then checked her vision.

"I can't see what you're pointing too," Penelope admitted and Luke watched as the nurse's eyes went wide.

"Oh, these might help." He reached across the bed to the side table and handed her a pair of glasses JJ had brought him from her apartment.

She smiled and put them on.

"Now I can see." The nurse grinned.

As the nurse bustled around the room, Penelope turned to Luke.

"Stanovich?"

Stanovich had sustained some facial bruising when he 'fell' down the stairs on his way out of the building - personally, Luke didn't feel like the bruising was enough. Stanovich was currently in custody and INTERPOL were liaising with both the American Government and the Russian Government to come up with a solution - he had killed on American soil yet the body count was higher in Russia. Emily expected Russia to apply for an international arrest warrant where he would then be shipped back to Europe and tried there, with the crimes in America being taken into account in whatever sentence he got.

"Dealt with." He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her skin. They could talk about it in detail later. For now, she needed to focus on resting.

* * *

Penelope giggled as Luke groaned and threw an arm over his face. She ran her tongue up the side of his cock and glanced up to see if he had woken up yet.

Nope.

She placed her hand on the base of his cock and drew the head into her mouth. She swirled her tongue around the tip and greedily lapped up the juice that began to form on the head.

"Uh." Luke's hips shifted and he thrust deeper into her mouth.

He was so handsome that she just couldn't resist. Her free hand left his strong thigh and trailed down between her legs and began to finger her bundle of nerves.

When she moaned around his cock, Luke let out a deep groan and she felt his hand on her hair.

"What a way to wake up, chica."

She released his cock, told him "morning" and then went right back to sucking.

Luke writhed above her and let her suck his cock like she was a lollipop tester.

When it got too much, he pulled her away and rolled them, slipping between her thighs with ease.

"You're ready," he stated.

"For you - always," Penelope told him, wrapping her legs around his back and grasping onto his delectable ass with her hands.

The first thrust was the best; the joining of two bodies who loved and worshipped each other. There was no other feeling like it.

Both Penelope and Luke let out simultaneous moans.

Luke buried one hand in her hair as the other grasped at the pillow beside her head, his face thrusting into her breasts as his cock thrust into her pussy.

"Oh!" She would never get tired of this, feeling him inside her, kissing her breasts as he gave her the sweetest pleasure. She could spend the rest of her life receiving this pleasure and never getting bored of it.

Her nipples puckered and her clit throbbed. Her legs tightened around his waist and her fingers dug into his ass.

"I'm close," she keened into his ear. "So close."

"Good." He gave a particularly hard thrust and it sent her tumbling over the edge. It was unexpected and rocked through her like an earthquake, making her entire body quiver with pleasure.

Seconds later, Luke was groaning into her breasts before he came too.

He didn't move from her straight away. He enjoyed the closeness.

When he did roll off, they lay there in their new bed, just being and enjoying.

"I need a shower after that," Penelope said, moving from the bed to head into their ensuite.

"You need a shower - I did all the work!" She could hear the teasing in his voice.

"Well," she stopped in the doorway and have Luke her best 'come hither eyes'. "Maybe if you join me in the shower, I'll do all the work this time."

Luke's eyes lit up and he jumped from the bed and bounded into the bathroom in one swift movement.

She giggled and followed him.

Forty minutes later and they were in the kitchen, having breakfast.

"How long until the others get here?" Luke asked.

"About half an hour."

Three weeks ago, Luke and Penelope had moved into their new house. After the attack on Penelope, Luke's apartment held too many bad memories for them both of them and it became apparent that her apartment was too small for them and two energetic dogs.

They got lucky with this house. It was a three-bedroom house with three bathrooms and a large backyard for the dogs. It was in a nice gated neighbourhood where everyone knew each other and got on. It had a large kitchen and dining room that was perfect for the party they were having this morning and a wonderful living room that was so cosy.

They were having their friends over today as a housewarming and everyone was coming.

Penelope couldn't wait.

* * *

Penelope sat on the steps that led down to the backyard and watched as Luke played with her godsons. The dogs were chasing them and squeals of delight rang out clear in the air.

Morgan stood next to her, a beer in hand and watched his son play with 'Unca Luke'. They'd formed quite a friendship.

"How you doing, baby girl?"

She opened her mouth to respond but he cut her off before she had even said anything.

"I mean really."

She shrugged. "I'm doing alright." He gave her the side-eye. "Honest. I have days when I get a bit… sad or freaked out but then I think just how lucky I am. I have a wonderful house, two wonderful dogs, amazing friends and a gorgeous boyfriend. What more could I want?" Penelope had been seeing a counsellor for the past few months and it had helped. The large scars on the tops of her thighs had bothered her at first until she stopped seeing them as 'scars'. They were proof that she had survived a serial killer - how many people could say that?

Morgan smiled. "I'm glad you decided to be nice to Alvez."

"Me too."

"Dada!" Hank called and Morgan put his beer down on the steps and ran over to chase after his son.

Luke patted Morgan on the back as he passed him and went to Penelope's side. He wrapped his arms around her waist as hers went to his shoulders.

"You're getting old," she teased, her remark based on his red face and sweat-soaked forehead.

"Those kid's have too much energy. They never stop!"

"You take two dogs running every morning."

"Yeah - but they've worn them out."

It was true. Roxy, Lou and even Clooney were now resting under a large tree they had in the backyard.

"You looked like you were having fun."

Luke nodded. "I was." He paused and his hands came up and framed her face.

She knew what he wanted to say. "Ask me."

"Ask you what?"

"Ask me the question on the tip of your tongue."

"How would you feel about… maybe having a few of our own?"

"A few?" She couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face.

"Yeah, a few." He shrugged. "Two, three… four?"

"Four?" She lightly fingered his t-shirt. "Well, we would need to practice for four, wouldn't we?"

"They do say practice makes perfect."

Luke and Penelope shared a kiss, the promise of a future bright between them.

When they pulled away, Luke was called away by Henry.

"Uncle Luke! Come on!" he shouted, a ball in his hands.

"Alright, I'm coming!" He gave Penelope a wink and she lightly pinched his backside before he ran over to where Andrew, Morgan, Hank, Reid, Will, Henry and even little Michael were waiting.

She watched them for a moment and then went and sat down next to JJ.

"Quite a sight, huh?" JJ remarked and Penelope lightly elbowed her in the ribs.

Emily held her glass of wine up. "I'll drink to that."

"Amen," Max added, sipping from her glass.

Rossi and Krystall shared a look.

More screams and shouts filled the backyard and Matt and Kristy filed in with their little band of children.

"Sorry we're late," Kristy apologised as the children and Matt went to join in with the ball game.

"Don't worry about it," Penelope told her.

Rossi took baby Rose from her and began to coo at her in Italian. From her place next to him, Krystall beamed.

Kristy and Max began to question Tara on the new book she was publishing as JJ and Emily laughed at Reid trying to do a 'header' with the ball.

Penelope looked around the backyard at her friends - no, her family and felt a wave of peace settle over her.

Life was good - so good.


End file.
